11 . 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀 .
𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐃𝐃𝐋𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐘, just after lunch, and while everyone else in Mr. Sunn's classroom was writing a test, Charlotte was at the back of the class with her laptop open. She'd been exempted from said-test, because her curriculum of online school wasn't as up to date as Mr. Sunn preferred. So, she sat in the back of the room, with her laptop open, looking at the review sheets he'd told her to study for the next classes.
Her body was aching with boredom by the time it hit one o'clock, and she thought she just might fall asleep on her keyboard and head-slam the keys. But the boredom kicked away when, halfway through the class, they got a knock at the door. At first she didn't look up, assuming it was something unimportant. A man entered the room, wearing a nice suit, and spoke briefly to the teacher. But then his voice interrupted the class, asking for none other than Pope. Charlotte looked up from her computer.
Pope turned around to glance at all three of them, first to Kie, then to JJ, and then to Charlie. His eyes looked concerned, and so were they, only a little bit just yet. Pope turned back around, and solemnly followed the man out the classroom door.
In the mean time while he was gone, the rest of the class continued with their test. Charlie, in the back of the room, looked back to her laptop, but didn't focus on the words she was supposed to be reading. Rather, she waited for the door to open again. She tapped her pencil on the desk in a repeated manner, and then gazed around the room. She'd never done an in-person test before, and so she found some sort of interest in observing the way other people acted during one.
She gazed around the room until the door opened again. Really, she hadn't been expecting much to come out of this little interruption— but it was something to take her mind off history. But she should have expected more, because when Pope came back, he was walking with a stride that meant something was wrong. And the look on his face was filled with tension, and proved that something was, in fact, wrong.
She watched closely as Kiara leaned over her desk, whispering lowly to him with concern. He didn't answer. Instead, he rose his hand and held up a brown envelope for them to see.
Charlie leaned in close, squinting her eyes so she could see it from across the room. Kiara asked him something, her body tensing up as she spoke. Charlotte couldn't see what was on the envelop from that far, but it was okay because Kiara turned around within a second, and mouthed the words "wheat symbol".
And suddenly, everything went quiet in her body and her mind clicked with realization.
"What the f—" JJ exclaimed, his voice too loud. Then he realized everyone was looking at him. "F... mm, fu— fudge," he laughed, uncomfortably.
Charlie let out a shocked breath, and leaned back in her seat. JJ swiveled around in his seat and looked at her, with the same wide-eyed expression she held.
With the revelation in mind, the rest of the class went by painfully slow. She couldn't really sit right in her seat, and if it weren't for the laptop in front of her, she would've gone absolutely mad. For the last half an hour, she looked up pictures and articles about the wheat symbol. Technically, it was still history-related.
When the bell rang, the four of them didn't waste any time to join one another, quickly hand in their tests and rush out.
They were in the hallway now, walking side by side, shoving past the people walking to their lockers like normal. They scurried down the hall, sharing whispers to one another, and burning questions that Pope wouldn't answer. They rushed all the way to the library.
"Is this a game of tag?" JJ asked, urging to know the answer. Charlie was walking fast beside him.
"I don't know," Kiara whispered back, glancing at them for only a second.
"Am I gonna have to beat you with your protractor?" JJ continued, directed towards Pope. "What's going on."
As they passed the librarian's desk, Charlie wanted to apologize to the lady for their absurd mannerisms. But she didn't, she just trudged on forward, eagerly wanting to know why the hell Pope received a letter with the infamous wheat symbol they'd gone months without seeing.
"Seriously Pope, you are driving me insane." Kiara whispered, her tone aggravated.
Kiara sat in one of the chairs along the farthest desk, letting her bag fall to the ground. Charlie sat right across from her, letting out a loud huff as she sat down.
"Okay, so that was the guy from the scholarship committee," Pope said, seriously. He leaned his hands on the edge of the table, between the two of them. "Take a look at this," he presented them the brown envelope.
JJ, coming around the other bend, grabbed it straight away.
"Read it," Pope pointed to it, and the look on his face emitted that this was no ordinary letter.
JJ tore open the envelope with a certain speed, taking out the letter it contained. They were all watching intensely, except for Pope who began to pace, contemplatively like always.
JJ stared down at the letter in his hands for a few moments, his eyes skimming over the words. Charlie narrowed her eyebrows, wondering why he wasn't saying anything.
"Out loud," Kiara said, her eyes shifting from JJ to the letter.
His lips pressed together, he glanced up to Charlie, then to Pope and Kiara. "I can't read cursive." he admitted, in a whisper.
Charlie rolled her eyes and Kiara stared at him for a second, blinking a few times. A muscle in her neck twitched as she tilted her head to the side, only slightly, and squinted her eyes at him. She grabbed the letter for herself.
She held it out in front of her. "Dear Mr. Heyward," she started, and Pope was reciting . "I am reaching out to you because I have material evidence that can exonerate John B. Routledge,"
JJ's eyes darted up, but he didn't move his head. He looked right to Charlie, who's own eyes were widening with realization.
With a shaky breath, Kiara continued. "It is of vital importance that you come and meet me with me in person, at my office at 27 King Street, Charleston at eight p.m. sharp tonight." She spoke the last words as a question. Then her face twisted, "And come alone."
"What the fuck," Charlie whispered. She put her head in her hands.
"Regards, C. Limbrey."
"What th—" Kiara finally looked away from the letter.
"Charleston?" JJ cut her off, speaking loud and with a bewildered tone of voice.
"It's like an eight-hour drive plus the ferry, how would we get there tonight?" Pope was still pacing, but kept a controlled face.
"We'd have to leave right now," JJ stated.
"Wait— we're going," Charlie sat up straighter, darting her eyes between all of them.
"I have a free period," Kiara looked to JJ.
JJ was looking at the letter. "Material evidence?" he read the words. "What does that even mean, 'material evidence'?" he spoke lowly, with the bottom half of his mouth.
"It means he can clear John B." Kiara said.
"We can bring him home," Charlie said, feeling her stomach tighten with those words.
"Oh shit," JJ perked up. "Then we're going to Charleston." he said, confidently.
While Kiara spoke about her mom and mentioned Shoupe, Charlie grabbed the letter that JJ had let fall onto the table. She grabbed it between her fingers, and let her eyes skim over the words. She stopped at his name, written there on the thick piece of parchment, and felt her chest fill with a feeling she recognized— that feeling of anxiousness, desire and uncertainty. She couldn't make sense of one thing, that being, how did these people know anything about him, and if it really was the wheat symbol, how did they know Pope had been involved?
She looked up from the letter, her eyebrows tightly knit together. She slid it on the table, over to Pope who was typing something on the keyboard of the computer. He placed a finger on it, looked back to the computer screen and sighed— a sigh that sounded almost like disbelief.
"What?" Kiara turned her head to look at him.
Pope took a second before he said anything. "I'm not sure, but I think whoever this Limbrey person is," he said, slowly, "They might be related to the captain of the Royal Merchant."
"Oh my god," Charlie let out a breath. Suddenly things were plowing deeper, and she knew it wasn't going to stop anytime soon. They were off to Charleston today, tomorrow something else. And she sat there, exchanging the same looks between the Pogues, knowing that things weren't going to slow down after this.
"What the hell d'you wanna go to Charleston for?" Daryl's eyebrows were sharply narrowed. He had his baseball cap in his hand, rubbing his sweaty forehead with the back of his palm, and leaning on a sturdy broomstick with the other.
Standing in the motel lobby within the same hour, Charlotte was in front of her grandparents. The Pogues were outside Mr. Heyward's truck, waiting for Charlotte as she asked her grandparents for permission to go on the very last minute, spontaneous road-trip-to-Charleston. She couldn't leave with just a text or a call— they had rules now, and it would weigh her down if she didn't follow them. Besides, she didn't want to leave her grandparents high and dry back home, wondering why the hell their granddaughter wasn't coming home from school.
"That's the thing," Charlotte said, and then she turned her neck to look around, landing her eyes on the three other people in the lobby. They didn't seem to be listening, but the motel wasn't necessarily booming with customers that made things loud.
Covertly, she wrapped a hand around Daryl's arm and one around Caroline's, pulling them with her as she walked towards the hallway. There, she stopped, and huddled close with them, lowering her voice to where only they could hear.
"Pope got a letter today, during class." she said, shifting her eyes between both of them. "From the scholarship committee."
The Collins' knew about Pope's scholarship that he ditched in the summer, mostly everyone did.
"Okay, and," Daryl said, impatiently.
"Let her finish." Caroline nudged the side of his body with her shoulder.
Charlotte wasn't going to mention the wheat symbol or the gold. "We don't know how yet, but whoever sent the letter knows about what happened to John B." she almost smiled when she spoke his name, she was going to get used to saying it all the time again. "And they, well, they have evidence."
Caroline's eyes slightly widened, and she leaned into their circle a bit more. "What kind of evidence?" she asked.
Charlotte took a pause, looking between both of them carefully. "The kind that can clear his name. Exonerate him, if you will."
Daryl's expression changed. He looked rather surprised, and Caroline's eyes widened even more.
"And the messenger has asked Pope to meet them tonight, in Charleston." Charlotte concluded, speaking delicately but seriously.
At this, Caroline looked to her husband. Her eyes were suddenly weary at those words. And Daryl felt the same, though he only breathed out of his nostrils and pressed his lips together.
"It's a scam," he said, sure of that.
Charlotte knew this would happen. "No— look, I don't know how I know, but I know it's not just a joke." she said, sounding sure herself. "Trust me, okay?"
Daryl looked at her, and the expression on his face was as if to say she was blinded by the mention of John B's name. Of course he didn't say that. Caroline, too, was thinking the same thing. They were teenagers, and they were prone to jumping on the first bandwagon that would get their beloved friend to safety again. Neither of them said this, for fear that their granddaughter would misinterpret.
"We have to try," Charlotte said, her voice and her eyes softening. "You know we have to."
"Who sent the letter," Daryl asked, urging.
"Something Limbrey," Charlotte said, speaking the name in a whisper.
The two old people looked at each other. "And what if it is a scam," Caroline said. "Bug, what if you don't come back."
"We'll be together, all four of us," Charlotte assured. "And I'll stay in the car the whole time if I have to, I know the rules. At the first sign of danger, we'll leave, I promise." she said, with truthful eyes.
"What if he's behind this," Daryl suggested, his tone of voice lower now. "He could be behind this."
"He wouldn't want John B exonerated." Charlotte claimed.
Daryl took this in, nodding once when he realized. He looked down. Caroline tilted her chin up.
"We'll only be gone a day, and I'll call and text whenever I can," she assured, still shifting her gaze between them. "This is our only shot right now."
In a moment, they were both avoiding her eyes. But not each other's— they kept sharing the same look, softening their faces, and exchanging words without speaking. After a while, Daryl nodded, and then looked back down, and Caroline spoke.
"We have something to tell you too, bug," she said, lightly. "I guess it changes our answer on whether we let you go or not."
"What," she said, narrowing her eyebrows.
"This mornin' we got some news," she continued. There was a pause, where she looked to Daryl to make sure she should say it. And then she did. "Ward's gone to the Bahamas."
Immediately, she thought of John B. He was in Nassau. "What?" she said, feeling like someone knocked the breath out of her for a second.
"His plane took off last night, we heard some people talkin' about it today," Daryl said. "Don't know what for. An' he brought Rafe with him."
She let out a heavy breath. They couldn't be trying to find John B, right? How could they know where he was. She told herself they weren't after him, that they weren't going to find him.
"So, I can go?" she said, her eyes wide. Both her and her grandparents knew it was a long shot to assume Ward could find John B in the entirety of the Bahamas, so they tried to put that out of their minds.
Caroline's lips tilted. "You just have to be careful, alright?"
Charlotte smiled, as much as she could with this new news. "I will, don't worry."
"Stay with your friends." Daryl said, pointing a warning finger at her. "Don't you guys think of separatin'."
She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around their necks, pulling them into a tight hug. She squeezed them tight, just in case, and closed her eyes.
"I'll be back soon," she said.
Daryl rubbed her back. Caroline patted the back of her head.
When they pulled away, Charlotte looked at them. "Thank you," she said, honestly.
Caroline stepped forward. She placed a kiss on her forehead. "Call us."
With a few nods, she smiled, and they opened the circle to let her break out. Caroline let go of her arm, and tried to smile. Charlotte walked towards the front entrance of the motel, and when she reached the door, she turned. She rose a hand and waved to them, smiling at their usual stance whenever she left— Caroline's hand on Daryl's stomach, and his arm wrapped around her upper back.
Turning back around to face the outside, she stepped over the threshold and onto the grass. She wiped the hair out of her face as she neared the truck, parked as close to the entrance as possible. Pope was in the driver's seat, Kiara beside him, and JJ on the other end. It wasn't the best idea to use the truck as their road trip vehicle, because it was only a three person. But they made it work regardless.
"Y'know, I don't understand what their deal is," She could hear Kiara saying, evidently still talking about her parents and the blow up that happened only minutes ago.
After ditching school, they'd gone straight to Pope's, taken the truck, and were off to Kiara's. There, what happened, was a classic case of 'hanging out with the wrong crowd meets protective parents'. Charlotte had tried not to listen to their argument, her and JJ tried to play thumb wars to distract themselves, but they were parked in the driveway, and unfortunately she knew exactly what was going on.
"We're good," Charlotte announced, as she walked up to the passenger side of the truck, where JJ was sitting. "They said yes."
JJ let out a groan when he realized what Charlie's presence back to the vehicle meant, and he pushed open the door.
"Can your grandparents, like, I don't know," Kiara said, as JJ stepped out and placed his hands on the rim of the cargo bed. "Adopt me?"
"I'm next in line for that," JJ was saying, as he hopped into the cargo bed of the truck, his boots thudding on the metal. "Sorry Kiara." he said, monotone.
"Alright, so we're probably gonna have to stop somewhere, but not if we go fast." Pope said, as he started the engine.
Charlotte slid into the empty spot next to Kie. "You okay back there, J?" she turned to look at him through the little window. "Guys, I know I already asked, but is this even safe— oh my god is it even legal?" she referred to JJ sitting in the back, no seatbelt, no seat.
"Not like he's never done it before," Kiara said, as a matter of fact-ly.
"Just don't run the speed bumps," JJ settled himself comfortably on a blanket, propping his arms up on the rim. "Kay?"
"Can't make any promises," Pope said, as he pulled out of the motel parking lot.
"Alright so we're really doing this." Charlotte commented, looking forward. "Oh my god, we're going to Charleston."
Kiara looked over at her and smiled, despite her pissed off mood.
"If we're to be there by tonight," Charlie leaned over and looked to Pope, then settled back to her spot. "We better haul ass."